


Candy Red

by YourOnlySenpai



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Canon Relationships, Cute, Davekat Week, Fluff, Gay, M/M, One Shot, Short, Short & Sweet, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-12 03:07:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29128476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YourOnlySenpai/pseuds/YourOnlySenpai
Summary: Karkat Vantas learns about Dave Strider's eyes after an unfortunate debacle (Karkat just doesn't understand privacy, smh). Later, Karkat, in turn, decides it's time to reveal his blood color to his lover. Not understanding the hemospectrum, Dave is left confused.
Relationships: Dave Strider/Karkat Vantas
Comments: 2
Kudos: 36





	Candy Red

The rude awakening of a (typically) pissed off Vantas at eleven in the morning wasn’t something Dave was prepared to deal with, specifically when he barged into his room to get him to come out.  
Dave would’ve preferred to be caught in a certain personal and embarrassing act than to be caught with his shades anywhere other than on his face, but that was exactly what happened. Karkat opened the door to tell Strider to hurry his ass up so they could work on cleaning the joint and was greeted with red eyes, wide with shock. Karkat’s followed suit.   
“What the fuck are you doing?” Dave immediately covered his secret with one hand, blindly reaching for his glasses with the other. “Is privacy not in your fucking nature or something? The door was closed for a reason, dude. Get out.”  
The two had been a classified item for some time now, but many of their secrets were still unrevealed to each other, and this was Dave’s. Vantas felt guilty for a split second, knowing it wasn’t something he was yet prepared to share, but also sensed it was about time anyway. He stepped in, nudged the door shut, and clicked the lock. The young Strider heard the noise and froze, refusing to reveal his eyes again.  
“Karkat, what the hell are you doing? I told you to get the fuck out.”  
“You sound like me. Fucking relax, I’m not going to do anything to you.” He took the moment to sit beside his lover on the bed, giving a little space between them. Everything was still fairly new to both of them. “Show me.”  
“No.”  
“Dave, I already saw them. Show me.”  
Dave shook his head, being stubborn as ever before, but despite being so obdurate, he didn’t try to stop him from grabbing his wrist gently and pulling his hand away. Strider kept his eyes to his lap, taking in the pattern of his red flannel pajama bottoms to avoid Karkat’s gaze. This wasn’t how he wanted Karkat to find out. He didn’t want him to know at all, frankly.   
Karkat just stared. Though it made Dave want to run to the bathroom and hide, he didn’t stop. It was the color he was most afraid of, yet he only found himself falling more and more in love with the man before him. His hand moved from his wrist and slowly up to his flushed cheek, turning his head to face him. Dave’s eyes finally met his gaze and Karkat felt his heart race.  
“Dave,” he spoke softly after a moment of silence between them. “Why wouldn’t you-”  
“They’re demonic.” He was blunt and short, likely from the embarrassment he felt in his chest. “Dirk made it clear they would scare people off or get me into some sort of danger.”  
“I love them.”  
This caught him slightly off guard. He didn’t expect Karkat to hate him or be afraid by any stretch, but he didn’t expect something so true and genuine to come out of his mouth, especially about something he hated so much about himself. Dave fell silent again as their eyes remained locked. After a moment, Karkat smiled.  
“I love you,” he was nearly whispering now, going off of his previous statement. He finally drew a small smile out of Dave, a shadow of his dimples appearing on his cheeks.  
“I love you, too.”  
Karkat, with his hand still on his cheek, pulled him in for a kiss. Dave didn’t waste a second in reciprocating.  
When was the last time I kissed him, Dave wondered. Yesterday? The day before? There’s not enough privacy for a couple of gay dudes on this goddamn ship. How much dick do I need to suck around here in order to get some privacy? None. BECAUSE THERE ISN’T ANY PRIVACY TO DO IT.  
He was getting distracted. When they broke apart, Karkat could tell he had gone off on some weird train of thought.  
“Have you taken your medication for your stupid think pan yet?” He reached up and poked his head. Dave swiped at his hand but smiled again.  
“No. You barged in before I could.”  
“Dumbass. Why are you so broken in the head?”  
Dave stood with a little laugh, for once leaving his shades behind on his nightstand with Karkat, who looked over at them and felt strange happiness seeing them not being used.  
“I’m not broken. I have ADHD.”  
“Yeah. Sounds pretty broken to me.”  
Dave flipped him off from the doorway of the bathroom and Karkat rolled his eyes. Just another day of blissful teasing.

For the first time, they slept in the same bed. Karkat needed to be near him that night, and Dave didn’t mind one bit. He had earlier learned that privacy wasn’t an option on this ship, even with the door locked, but he didn’t let it stop them from snuggling close and creating a new moment together. Despite the romantic and sweet setting, something wasn’t right. Karkat was off.  
“What are you thinking about?”  
“Huh?”  
“It’s clear that something’s on your mind,” Dave said softly, near a whisper. His fingers played with his hair, avoiding the little nubs on his head that he so desperately wanted to touch. But Karkat had made it clear he didn’t want that, so Dave respected it, having a faint clue about what actually happened when they were stimulated. “So what’s wrong?”  
“I’m not thinking about anything.”  
“Karkat.”  
“Strider.”  
“I know you, and I know you well. What are you thinking about?”  
Karkat paused for a moment before sighing softly and looking down.  
“Look, Dave, I… have my own secret.”  
“Go on.” Dave was prepared to listen, and really listen, as his medication hadn’t yet worn off for the day.   
“But you can’t let it affect how you think about me. Please. Or how you think of my role in groups and such.”  
“I’ve watched you kill people. I don’t think it gets much worse than that.”  
“It does.”  
Dave’s eyebrow raised in suspicion, but he shrugged it off in preparation to listen to what Karkat had to say.  
“I just… don’t want you to be surprised or disgusted when you find out. Especially if we ever decide to, uh… have…”  
“Oh God, Kitkat, is this an anatomy thing?” Dave rolled his eyes.  
“No! Well, kind of.”  
“I’d rather get to that issue when we get there. I’m more of a hands-on learner.”  
“Oh my God, I am not going to teach you about my genitalia, you fucking dimwit sack of shit!” Karkat’s cheeks were bright red and his face was buried in his hands. “I only mention it because everything is, like, color-coded essentially and I don’t want you finding out about me during something like that!”  
“Okay, okay, whatever, just keep your voice down, dumbass.” Dave rolled his eyes. “Everyone’s going to know that you wanted to sleep with me, and I don’t think you’re ready to explain to them why.”  
“Shut up. Anyways,” Karkat uncovered his face, but wouldn’t meet his eyes. “It’s pretty major. Terezi knows, and everyone else might now, too, but either way, it’s… important to me that you know what you’re getting into.”  
“Okay, so just spill it already.”  
Karkat took a deep breath. His whole life was spent guarding this secret and now, telling someone he loved dearly, knowing that he might lose him to it, was an absolutely terrifying concept to him. To anybody, really. Even Dave’s heart was racing.  
“I’ve… got mutant blood. Bright red. Terezi says candy red.”  
Dave waited for something else, which Karkat took as a negative silence until he spoke up again.  
“Wait, that’s it? You have red blood?”  
“Yeah, I do. I just-”  
“Okay. Join the club. What’s the big deal?”  
“You’re not surprised by this revelation?”  
“Dude, every human has red blood. We also don’t give a flying fuck about blood color. I know it’s like a troll social order thing, but that doesn’t really apply when you’re saving the entire universe from an all-powerful demon. Or when you’re dating a human. Pick your battle.”  
Karkat stared at him in awe for a few moments before suddenly reaching up, holding both cheeks in his hands, and pulling Dave in for a kiss, one that caught him entirely off-guard. He didn’t even get the chance to kiss back before Karkat pulled away to look up at him.  
“I love you. And if you tell anybody, I will kill you. Got it?”  
Dave then smiled warmly, held his arm firmly around Karkat’s waist, and pulled him in for another kiss he was far more prepared for.  
“Got it.”


End file.
